I didn’t watch the Ham-on-Nye debate. I spent my time cooking spaghetti sauce in my new crock pot. Besides, no one is going to change their mind over one debate no matter how persuasive or factual the presentation or how engaging the debaters. I understand, from reading the reviews, both sides felt their guy won. Depending on one's investment in belief or non-belief, their assessment of victory will always be skewed in favor of their side. There are many logical reasons to leave religion and its dogma behind, but there are also emotionally gripping reasons not to abandon "a way of life" that religious indoctrination has imprinted since childhood. And here is another facet to consider about humans changing their belief system which I had not considered…survival.
“Because beliefs are designed to enhance our ability to survive, they are biologically designed to be strongly resistant to change. To change beliefs, skeptics must address the brain’s “survival” issues of meanings and implications in addition to discussing their data.
Because a basic tenet of both skeptical thinking and scientific inquiry is that beliefs can be wrong, it is often confusing and irritating to scientists and skeptics that so many people’s beliefs do not change in the face of disconfirming evidence. How, we wonder, are people able to hold beliefs that contradict the data?”
- “Why Bad Beliefs Don’t Die” by Gregory W. Lester, Skeptical Inquirer magazine November/December 2000
This says it all for me. For many, religion is the tie that binds. Break that tie and you are faced with losing family, friends, status in community and more. I know a few who have lost their jobs and access to their children. I also know many more who choose to remain closeted out of fear. In a hyper-religious country like the US there is very little freedom if you aren't religious. Our laws guarantee "freedom of religion" but don't guarantee "freedom from religion".
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